Getting Around Rangoon

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RANGOON I found getting around Rangoon very easy as when I wasn't walking I was peddling my way about on my bicycle.only twice I took a taxi...The taxis are cheap and that all depends also on your bargaining skills...one bargains for everything here ..(but not too hard)
The Busses are mostly small trucks that carry everyone standing and are not for the light hearted...although they are very cheap to ride they are usually packed with people
Bicycles can also be hired...your hotel will organise anything for you...especially a good exchange rate on your money.

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Yangon
For an easy way to get around in Burma and Yangon was no exception I hired a bicycle. I found my Hotel had bikes to hire or if there were none available ,another place close by would supply one for daily hire. The costs are negligable and I must say a good way to get around. Of course the "daily hire"price can depend on your bargaining skills. I always carried with me my small back/pack with my daily needs. Make sure that you wera a hat to protect you from the extreme heat of the sun.
DONOT carry your bag/handbag in the basket on the front of the bike.

There are public buses and pick-ups in Yangon but they seemed always overcrowded and in cases of pick up you needed strong muscles to keep balance in the vehicle's back!
Taxis are available everywhere (even pirate ones), but like elsewhere they seem to charge whatever they want. Better negotiate before you get in or ask locals how much they pay for your specified distance.
Another alternative (but not cheaper) is bicycles. Romantic, slow and certainly recommended for short distances without heavy traffic.

If you are arriving by air to Yangon, you can have your visa waiting for you at the airport, if you make the arrangements before hand. I have done this six times and five times it was done by miss eithwe at travels@myanmar.com.mm it takes her about a week to organize it. and she send the approval by email to you and you can show it to the airlines at the time of departure whether it is singapore or bangkok or taipei or kunming or kolkata..also you dont have to stand in line, once inside immigration, a separate office is set up for visa on arrival and you fill in a form and within minutes they stamp the visa on your passport and you walk past the foreigners standing in line .. to the customs area.
if you have time to get your visa in your home country, well and good. i am almost always on the road or in such remote areas (even a cup of coffee is a luxury).. for me this works out perfectly. 20 for the visa to govt and 25 usd for the service. works out cheaper than the 100 usd my brother paid to get his visa in portland oregon through an agency..

Give the rickshaw drivers a break and take them to get around. They're ridiculously cheap (about 100-1000 kyat) for up to all day. Plus, many of them speak English and can tell you a thing or two.
Rickshaw it.

But private taxi is nice. I took a taxi out to the bridge in Mandalay (I'm too lazy to make a Manadalay page- sorry) and then he took me to a big monestary where i met a nice monk there who spoke English and almost convinced me to stay for a few months to do meditation.

These are my team leaders. Fun people eh? That's one of them using my compact powder to touch up his nose! (No, no...! If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you're wrong. He was just trying to amuse us with his antics). Anyhow, not to sidetrack from the main topic i.e. Transportation, our main mode of transportation here were these mini-vans (or trucks? Gee, come to think about it, I don't quite know the exact word to label these vehicles...)! For guys, it's O.K., I suppose. But for us (ahem!) gals... it can be quite a challenge boarding these vehicles if you're wearing a dress.

A popular form of transport for the local...